A Good Reason
by PhoenixSB
Summary: Ren's giving himself good reasons to give up on Kyoko, Kuon's giving him good reasons not to. And when Kyoko starts to become jealous of the way Cain looks at Setsuka? How's a thespian to deal? Method acting, duh. Pre-Act 168 Cain/Setsu, Ren/Kyoko.
1. 1: Tsuruga Ren, Number One Actor

Disclaimer: Right, I own Skip Beat. Actually, I'm President Lory Takarada and these are just synopses from my favorite otome games 3

Title: Give Me A Good Reason

Summary: Ren's giving himself good reasons to give up Kyoko, Sho's giving him good reasons not to, and Kyoko's giving him whiplash. What happens when the only way he can keep all his eggs in one basket is to completely envelope the persona of Cain Heel, and all that that implies? (post-167)

Chapter: One: Tsuruga Ren, Number One Actor in Japan

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The tall man leans forward, pressing himself against the awkwardly low bathroom counters catering to the Japanese of acceptably average height, and levels himself with his reflection. Through the steamed mirror, the tortured man begins a staring contest he intends to lose.

_'This shackle is a reminder, Ren. But it should not be necessary...'_ reminds his reflection, _'Get yourself together. You may have the career you've always longed for, but you can't have the girl, too...'_

A sharp squeal from the other room nulls his inner conflict, and the actor instinctively rushes to open the door.

"What happ-"

And there, prancing around like a ballerina on speed, was the girl. The object of his desires and subject of his painful conflict sang, _"Mooooooooooooookooooooooooo-saaaaaaaaaaan~~~"_

Ah, Kotonami Kanae had called. Tsuruga Ren huffed with a relaxed grin and leaned comfortably onto the open door-frame he'd been standing in.

"Enka." Tsuruga blurted out involuntarily to the chipper young lady's cadence upon greeting her best friend.

"Moko-san! How-are-you-how-was-work-and-your-family-is-doing-well-I-hope-you-know-it's-rather-tranistional-weather-right-now-so-the-little-ones-might-be-catching-colds-around-this-time-and-oh!-Moko-san-"

Kyoko's bunny hopping was halted by a very shrill and very familiar, _"MMMMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOUUUUUUU!"_ Followed by what Tsuruga could only infer to be a reflexive slew of insults. Luckily, before his dear Kyoko could sink into her familiar sea of despair, her smart friend must have added something to fill Kyoko's _'Biffle'_-eating, golden-eyed sparkles.

At the magic words, the bubbly blonde returned, smiling and sparkling to the max, "Oh, Moko-san! There's nothing to worry about~"

After a pause from his lady love, the silly man realizes he'd been staring at the small woman and smiling like school girl all by himself. Quick to correct, Kuon gathered himself back into Tsuruga Ren, Number One Actor of Japan. With his gentleman's smile on, Ren deftly shifted his weight off of the door-frame just when gold eyes met green. Defensively, Ren's gentlemanly smile flashed just a tad brighter before the poor adult could remember that this smile usually meant his pupil would recoil from him. To his great surprise, and relief, she'd kept eye contact...

And not only had she kept eye contact, but there was a deep feeling within them...

For five slow heartbeats Ren was completely captivated. His mind went blank, his lips parted, his eyes drooped, his legs went lax... And the always 100% suave actor went weak at the knees (YES! **THE** TSURUGA REN, WEAK AT THE KNEES), almost falling where he stood. And, much to his chagrin, the actor had been caught by none other than his leading lady!

Oh, it's that look, "Tsuruga-san, are you all right?"

Kyoko's left hand held firmly to his left forearm while the other rested reassuringly across his wide back. Her gaze looked dewy to him, and her cheeks tinted like a cherub, and he let himself feel cherished for a second. He wanted to burn this feeling into his heart, even if it was only an illusion.

"Tsuruga-san...?" With the position he'd fallen into, it was easy for the poor man to catch the delicate scent wafting from her soft hair. He was almost close enough to her the sound of her dulcet breathing, close enough to imagine a quickening in her heartbeat... "Tsu... Tsuruga-san...?" Oh... Shit. Indulgence is a sin. He'd let himself rest against her so long that playing aloof was now absolutely out of the question...

Ah, well, fuck... Quickly, Tsuruga Ren drew up to his full height, held up his arms into an 'X' shape and made a very (almost unnervingly) cute, "Buu-buu," buzzer noise followed by a pout.

With instant understanding, a look of slow horror crawled onto his kouhai's face as her piercing golden eyes dulled and a shriek peeled from her lips. Convinced that he'd tricked her into thinking he was in-character and she was NG-ed, the senpai was able to calmly pat the girl on the head and calmly walk back into the bathroom, closing the door to let his favorite actress berate herself before quickly and professionally collecting herself and continuing the scene.

From the other side of the door, Kuon closes his eyes and mentally pictured the girl he loves in the other room. Briefly, he wishes he were the room itself, encompassing her, comforting her, coaxing her-

Tsuruga grips his wrist, tightening his shackle enough to imprint the cold metal head into his skin. As he slips to the floor, his mind plays a cruel film of dreams he'd never dared to dream, "No."

_"... Get yourself together..."_

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When Tsuruga-san came back out of the bathroom, he looked more stable, but...

"Nii-san..." Setsu (or Kyoko) didn't understand it herself, but upon sighting her brother (slash Senpai), she instantly wanted to give him a hug. She'd completely forgotten about her recent plunge into NG hell, and only thought of him... "Nii-"

Woah, Kyoko... Hold on a minute, this is Tsuruga-san, we're talking about here! You can't just go hugging your senpai! Especially not when that senpai is Tsuruga Ren, Number One Actor in All of Japan! Do you want to be cursed by every lust-crazed woman in the country? Didn't think so... And yet, and yet... Kyoko couldn't help moving to him and holding his large hands in hers.

_'Man, Setsuka sure is strong... I can't help but let her feelings take over...'_ Kyoko rationalized. _Riiiight... Setsuka's_ feelings, _not the person playing_ Setsuka..._ 'Okay. It's okay, right?'_

Kyoko looked up at Setsuka's beloved Nii-sama, drinking in his expression- a mix of curiosity and tenderness... And something else that she couldn't quite place... Something someone with a more experienced eye might call longing.

"Nii-san, I don't know what kind of work you've had that kept you away a~all day long, but you're going to have to pay for it!" She raved in her best spoiled little sister voice. Kyoko wondered for a second why it was so easy for her to act out something so incredibly foreign. She'd never been spoiled a day in her life, and yet here she was, nagging her mentor's character about not paying enough attention to her... Kyoko gave herself a private smile, repeating her favorite reasonings when it came to her favorite actor, _'It's Tsuruga-san's magic.'_

"E~hh, but, Setsu, you're the one who had me waiting by myself tonight~"

"Well, I... I was out!" Kyoko hadn't thought of a fitting excuse for Setsuka... Logically, Setsuka would never go anywhere without her brother. But Kyoko couldn't help it if they both had work! And afterward, Kyoko stopped to talk to Director Ogata about her mentor's condition, and she couldn't help that either! This wouldn't get her another NG, would it? "If nii-san couldn't even be bothered enough to bring along his _one-and-only_ little sister, who came all the way to Tokyo for him, then why should she be bothered by waiting for such a baka-aniki to return, hmm?"

"Then where were you without your _baka-aniki_, Setsu?" Ren let a dangerous smile slip, pushing it away before his kouhai could catch it and slapping on his "so-what attitude."

"Where were you that you couldn't _have me_ come along?" Kyoko quipped, feeling genuinely ticked for some reason.

Oh, he could sense that... And it put a mischievous smile on the idiot-brother's face, "Are you thinking silly thoughts, little Setsu?" And even though he was accusing Setsu, the accusor himself was feeling a tad bit guilty of his own delusions of grandeur. And who could help that, with the way Setsu spoke, one can't help but incur a slight craving.

"What did you say?" Thankfully, Kyoko hadn't caught onto a thing. She was blessed with sweet naivete.

"I'm just wondering why you're so worked up about it-" And there, Ren cut himself off. The look on Setsuka's face was enough to stay his penchant for teasing. His hands flew to cradle her face, and he gave her a steady gaze, "I missed you all day."

And it worked! Tsuruga let out a tiny sigh of relief. If he didn't know any better, he'd think his kouhai was testing his acting skills... Like repressing himself from his desires wasn't already enough of a challenge.

Kyoko actually hadn't meant to start an arguement... And she didn't even realize she'd felt hurt until he'd already made her feel better, "Nii-sama, I didn't mean to question you," And she gave a cute pout... A very very cute pout, and one, if you recall, on the face of the one and only love of the man currently holding this face between his hands... Oh, _danger_... Danger, danger... "All I wanted was to coax you..." Danger! Danger! "So that you might eat everything I've prepared for dinner, and then play with me after to make up for being apart all day!" _Torture. _This harpy! So what if it's not intentional provocation, it's provocation, nonetheless!

If it weren't for that adorable "_Cutie Honey_" smile she was beaming his way right now, the poor actor might have fallen over from over-heating. Luckily, he covered well, "I'll bite. Since you're being honest today, I'll do whatever my _one-and-only_ wants. Good?" Ren smiled and tweaked his little sister's nose affectionately before sitting down at the table. This whole sibling-complex banter was something he could definitely get used to, Ren thought with a smile before glancing down at a table full of food.

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Author's Note: My first in this series... Don't go easy on me! Anyway, this is following Act 167! I just read Act 168 and I cried bucketloads! I don't know why! I don't understand it... Maybe has something to do with listening to my sad playlist.

I've got some good stuff coming up... I don't know how hot things will get, you guys let me know if I take it too far, ok? [I just love the idea of forbidden romance. Siblings is just such a sad, sad type of love!]

If you want steamy, I can write it. I prefer not to go in _too_ in-depth, if you catch my drift, but I can write enough to set your teeth on edge if you'd like.

Anyway, let me know what you think! Guess which male and female is featured in the next chapter:

Yashiro, Sho, Lory, Maria, Chiori, Kanae


	2. 2: Lots of Stars

Disclaimer: Right, I own Skip Beat. Actually, I'm LME President, Lory Takarada and these are just synopses from my favorite otome games 3

Title: Give Me A Good Reason

Summary: Ren's giving himself good reasons to give up Kyoko, Kuon's giving him good reasons not to, and Kyoko's giving him whiplash. What happens when the only way he can keep all his eggs in one basket is to completely envelope the persona of Cain Heel, and all that that implies? (post-167)

Chapter: Two: Lots of Stars

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About seven-point-five centimeters in length, point-five centimeters in diameter... The 'filter' takes up about one-third of the length... It seems the longer, thinner types are marketed specifically with women in mind, while the shorter, darker ones are geared towards men... The feminine ones let out a very thin exhaust while the macho ones are very thick... And some come in flavors. So far, she'd been able to document orange, grape, vanilla, and melon.

Some smokers are suprisingly friendly. They seem scary, but they warmed up to Setsuka pretty quickly once they realized she wasn't trying to bum one off of them. In fact, once they learned she was only curious, they were unapologetically open about trying to poison her lungs. It surprised her that they hadn't assumed anything based upon her suggestively 'Outlaw' constitution of dress. One girl who had rocked the punk look to a 'T,' had actually looped arms with her, _"Here, chiquita," the girl said with an american drawl, "take my pack. They're Seven Stars, specials. Charcoal filter. I been on 'em for four years straight, the best there is," the girl had a spark in her eyes as she looked at the glory of her soft pack, "I want you to take this, and when you feel like you want one, give yourself some alone time to enjoy it-"_

_"Oh! No, no, thank you, I couldn't!" Kyoko tried to pull the pack that the pretty girl was trying to stuff into her pocket with a fingerless leather-gloved hand, but to no avail._

_"My favorite time to smoke is on my way home from work. When I was in New York, I'd just sit on a backstage entrance staircase and enjoy it, smooth and slow, and take in the city at night. I'd sit and enjoy a moment to myself. Of course, right now, I'm just shootin' the shit with my friends, here!" And the girl smacked the back of the leather-clad comrade standing with his profile to them as they laughed, and Kyoko giggled out of politeness, "just give yourself a minute to enjoy it!"_

Kyoko smiled down at her new package of cancer sticks, counting the seven, small metallic stars printed across the top before popping it back into her bag. Moko-san shouldn't arrive for another twenty-minutes, but Kyoko felt precaution must be taken with such immoral items in her possession... Not to mention illegal!

It was great that now that all of her usual Love Me Section time could be spent walking around in Setsuka regalia, trying to find her character (as per The President's instruction). However, it also meant that Kyoko saw less of her dear Moko-san! Oh, how long had it been? It felt like ages!

How long has it been, seriously? Two full days and three nights, yes. So long... But at least she'd had a chance to speak to Moko-san the night before... But the thought of that conversation made Kyoko's brows draw together, and her teeth openly clench in pensive stillness. She recounted her friend's inquiry about her senpai, upon hearing gossip from Love Me Number Three in a chance meeting at headquarters. The topic of her senpai set poor Kyoko on edge, and as she shrank in her seat, the fear of danger grew bigger. Her anxiety was building up, and up, and up. It grew each time she blinked, and so you cannot blame the poor girl for shrieking out to Almighty Allah when her best friend tapped her on the shoulder in greeting. The scream came out so shrill and incomprehensible people walking past outside the cafe stopped to try and find it's source.

_"Mmmmooooouuuuu!"_ Kotonami Kanae mentally chastised herself for not expecting the unexpected with her one and only best friend. She gripped her chest so tightly, so pronounced was her shock, she felt her hair stand on end for a full five seconds before falling back into place. When Kyoko sang a familiar starry-eyed greeting followed by a sweet apology for acting uncouth, her friend huffed and sat down in the seat across the ornate pink little table... Leave it to the resident fairy-tale freak to pick their lunch spot. Kanae gave herself a minute to feel reproachful. They sat in a rococo-styled cafe that screamed heart shaped beauty marks and Marie Antoinette. When a waiter walked by in full white make-up and powdered wig, it was enough to die from embarrassment... Somehow, though, looking at her best friend spread warm feelings of tolerance for all of the spritely girl's quirky hobbies. Kanae breathed in and out, and told herself there was nothing to be angry about. Then she remembered her last conversation with said girl, "_Mou!_ You'd really ought to stop being so scatter-brained all the time! How could you forget you were on the phone with me after just a tiny screw up with your voodoo doll?"

Kyoko took a second to look honestly (and adorably) bashful before beginning her sincere reparations, "Moko-san, I didn't mean to be so rude. But I'd been working on that Tsuruga Ren-as-Katsuki doll for some time now, and to have accidentally painted such a long eyelash was so... Devastating," Kyoko breathed the last words, a look of melancholy seeping into her expression as she pictured the shell-chocked Tsuruga Ren she'd seen not once, but twice now. Though it was reflexively deemed an exorbitant reaction to such an outlandish skill, the sorrow in her face cooled Kanae's temper immediately.

"Yeah, whatever then, I see how that could really get to you... You must've worked really hard on it, too," Kanae gave a contrite smile to her companion, waited for a smile of equal contrition, and began looking at her menu. Little did Moko-san know that not only was the best friend lying to her about the circumstances that had caused her to not only forget she was on the phone, she was also wittholding intentions of committing an act Kyoko felt in her gut was something young, impressionable high school girls should be sharing with their best friends... But, alas, Kanae was a healthy girl who would never inhale even a whiff of smoke. Even if Kyoko disregarded this, telling her would mean an explanation, and the explanation would involve strictly confidential information set upon her by the great powers that be.

I mean, she'd already gone so far to cover her tracks, by using the eyelash incident that had happened weeks ago alone in her room as a perfect cover for Moko-san hearing her repeatedly call out her senpai's name... And then start shrieking... Apparently, she'd immediately turned her phone off, and Moko-san had been frantically calling back out of absolute fright for her friend... Kyoko knew she had put her friend through too much to just toss it all to the side now.

But Kyoko's tongue was itching from keeping so many secrets!

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Ren sat as leisurely as he could manage on the back of Lory Takarada's magnificent elephant, Hady. The President himself sat behind him, on an embroidered, velvet throne dressed from head-to-toe like an Arabian Sultan. Sure, he was used to Boss' elephants and outfits, but having to participate was something else entirely.

Yes, today Tsuruga Ren had finally caved. Over the years Takarada had sworn to one day get Ren to don a costume unnecessary for a role, and never succeeded.

But, lo! Behold, this, the glorious day that Tsuruga Ren finally succumbed to the joys of cosplay has come. To make things even better, the costume was Disney Prince Aladdin! Oh, the swooning women at LME brought joy to the maniacal man, whose smile grew wider with every fainting maiden. He almost forgot to think of what could be so important to the young actor that he'd risk his pride to attain it... But the man's face; jaw clenched in determination, eyes wary of their actions and back stiff with affliction was so nostalgically wild that Lory couldn't help worrying. It's not like he didn't know the driving force in whatever was to come, anyway.

Ren burned holes in the back of Hady's head, not even seeing the textured, almost moon-toned skin. He was lost in cogitation. In a harrowing bliss that neither starts, ends, or stops. A perpetual state of inevitability that he knew- due to his longing, his self-castigation, his fate- could not be stopped. He always knew this. And he was fine with it, fine with just watching over her as a senpai, but now... The way Setsu spoke... Like she wanted to completely possess him- needed to monopolize him, even- was too much for Ren to handle. The yearning for Kyoko to actually feel this way about him contrasting with his own acknowledgement of it never happening was enough to drown his heart in ice. Being reminded that it was only _he _who was longing, and also faithfully believing that he would _never_ have what he wanted set his mind in a fog as thick as insanity. He would never... Should never... Could never embrace her like he'd dreamed only countless nights on end.

Once he'd realized this, he'd decided there was only one way out. His only hope.

With a sultry command from her master, Hady glided to the colossal cargo elevator with the grace unknown to her species. Ren took only a moment to stop his train of thought in order to worry about riding an elevator with an elephant, but they were in the sub-basement in a flash, and so Ren returned to brooding. Hady led them into the underground oasis, and kneeled down to wade in the watering hole. Ceremoniously, Lory unfurled a ladder woven from the same silk as his throne, and went down with a giddy bob of his feathered turban.

Ren followed after, congruently unceremonious in style. The man was on a mission. Lory needed no prompting, and jumped right into it, "Now tell me, why?"

"I have a favor to ask of you."

"Yes, but why?" Lory's eyes conveyed a message more vast than the entire Twilight Saga.

"I want Cain Heel to be more than a cover," says the actor, nearly shaking in determination now, "I want Cain Heel to be a character I can immerse myself in."

"Why?"

"I know it's asking a lot. I know that Cain Heel is supposed to just be a cover, but I need to separate Kuon from Cain Heel," Ren's eyes meet the President's in an unsteady gaze that falls almost immediately into frantically searching the room for his guts. Usually, _Kaichou_ did all the talking, and he need only absorb his message (with an ulterior motive certainly buried underneath). Now, it was Ren trying to convey something. He only wished he could do so in the calm, decisive manner as the mustachioed man had countless times before. Ren clasped his hands together in a silent prayer for clarity. He raised his orison hands to his forehead, and imagined he might channel a third eye out of desperation. How could he get across how _right_ his request was?

"Why?" When Ren's response was only a lax in his fingers, Lory's voice became voluminous enough to let Ren's mind slip, and for just a second, he thought the question came from the Gods themselves, "Why, Kuon?"

And slowly, the gallant young man freed his forehead from the pressure of his pleading fists, "I have to stay beside her."

And as the words flew out of his mouth and clung to the air between them, they both knew it to be true.

Kuon gathered his head to look his President, his makeshift guardian and family friend in the eyes. This time his gaze was steady as he silently added, _"But I can only stay beside her as Cain Heel... And once that's through, I'll be through, too."_

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Author's Note: Forgive me, but I couldn't resist having the innocent Kyoko dabble in some dirty. It just seemed too funny to pass up. Seven Stars are actually my favorite Japanese brand of cigarettes :]

And the Mary-Sue will be important later, guys. Sorry if you don't like her, but I found her necessary for my wicked, wicked goals.

Many thanks to Jhiz, for rightly using the word 'dizzy' to describe chapter one. I felt the same way, and didn't realize it was the fault of my writing pace. I thought it was just a new affect of my slowly dawning insanity! I hope this chapter was better!


	3. 3: Alone Together

Disclaimer: Right, I own Skip Beat. Actually, I'm Takarada and these are just synopses from my favorite otome games :)

Title: Give Me A Good Reason

Summary: Ren's giving himself good reasons to give up on Kyoko, Kuon's giving him good reasons not to, and Kyoko's giving him whiplash. All he can do is become Cain Heel. pre-Act 168

Chapter: Three: Alone Together

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After suspiciously facile negotiations, the two tall, handsome men had come to an agreement. Ren tried his best to feel satisfied with his decision. He had originally asked for a days worth of dialogue to be had between the makeshift siblings. He stressed it's need to be substantial enough to make the Heel siblings real.

_Kaichou_ gave Cain and Setsuka fleshed out characters and history... By providing a two hour scene to lay as a foundation, "I'll have it to you in a day or two... It's not going to be anything elaborate. But I'll need some questions answered right now."

"All right," Ren sunk into the mountain of floor cushions.

"Have you talked about your parents?" Takarada took out a pair of funny little reading glasses sitting upon a yellow notepad and fountain pen.

"No."

"Mmm-hmmm," Boss turned into a therapist, and it was almost easy to imagine, once you ignored the elaborate sultan attire and matching setting, "And since you've come to Tokyo, have you talked about where you're from? Have you talked about your childhood? Do you even have a shared history?"

Ren took a moment to process the past two days, "No, we definitely tried avoiding that subject. We never question whether or not we're acting normal, we just accept every action in the moment."

"When you're out together, what do you do?"

"We... So far, we've gone shopping."

"And what happens?"

Ren's brows furrowed, hoping this wasn't some sort of trap, "I buy her clothes."

"You spoil her?"

"Well... Yes, it's in Cain's nature to do so."

"In your own as well, no doubt," Takarada smiled slyly.

And inside, Kuon couldn't help smiling back, "Can we stick to the topic?"

"Face slip." Ren's face popped back to neutral, "Have you lectured her?"

Ren laughed, "Mogami-san isn't the type to-"

"Setsuka, not Kyoko-chan."

"But Mogami-san-"

"Wouldn't be herself once she becomes Setsuka. You know that as well as I," Takarada Lory smirked a "check-mate" kind of smirk as he folded his fingers together.

"That's a valid point you make, Boss, but nothing's happened..." Ren looked off, and played a private film reel of Setsuka, "I think Setsuka is too obsessed with her brother to do anything bad," Ren gave a sort of smile that made Takarada think of a spoiled brat who got what he wanted after a self-orchestrated tantrum... It made him think of Kuon.

Which begged the question, "What do you do when you're alone together?"

Ren gulped, "What?"

"Is she the spoiled type? Does she sit on your lap and try to feed you or massage you after work or want you to play with her hair while she does her nails?" Takarada gave a similarly spoiled type of smile... But more sinister.

"No... No, sir, I can assure you there are no lines being crossed," Ren came back, hard and professional, as always.

"Too far?" Ren smiled, tight-lipped and curtly, "Well, Ren, you've got to admit, it was a possibility with this character... Not only is that girl a talisman, she's also a possibility..."

Ren wasn't sure what he meant by that, so his response lay flat, "Well, Setsuka's character is a bit more mature... She wants to see me act like a big brother, she wants to see me act like a megane-type* but I'm more like a basket-case..." Ren smiled as he pictured the small girl's doe-eyed expression when she asked for the Baphomet, "when I just give her what she wants she gets very upset."

"All right, that's all I need to know," _Kaichou_ ended the private meeting in his secret underground oasis with a nod of the head and a stretch of his limbs. His hand reached out and found the head of Natsuko-chan, "You've got another job at 4, right? You'd better get going. I'll get the script to you tomorrow."

He couldn't really complain, since the President said he'd write it himself. That would've scared him, but a two hour scene verses, say a twelve hour scene gave much less for the President to torture him with, and so he agreed. As he walked the halls of LME he hoped he'd made the right decision... There could be no turning back. He'd committed too many sins. He'd kept too many secrets and hurt too many people. When he thought of his parent's pain, something he could only understand as of late, he knew that it was all his fault. Everything was his fault. He couldn't even think of Rick. At times like this, an old memory cell would ignite in his brain and Kuon could hear his friend again, and it nearly killed him all over again.

He deserved nothing. He knew just being able to be around her was a miracle by itself.

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After repressing the urge to gush to Moko-san, Kyoko was able to calm down. It took a lot of work, but Kyoko had somehow been able to make this morning's excuse for last night make sense to her friend.

"It's just that when I heard you going, _'Tsuruga-san, are you all right? Tsuruga-san? Tsu-Tsuruga-san...?'_ I thought you were with him, and then I thought I heard some guy making NG noises and then you just start screaming, and the line went dead. I must've called you a million times after that. I thought you were in a crisis!" Kanae's eyes went dark and her fingers flew to soothe the returning headache from last night. While Kyoko recalled instantly removing her battery from her mobile whilst shrieking, she tried not to feel too guilty. She learned today- after apologizing six times already- that one more utterance of vindication would pop veins in her dear friends forehead. Instead, she quietly listened, using that as punishment enough, "But anyway, to finish last night's conversation... Amamiya-san said there was an accident at the Dark Moon shoot yesterday, and after you went to check on Tsuruga-san you really worried the cast when you came back... So what happened? She's worried about the details... I don't care, honestly, since you seem fine to me," but truthfully, Kanae was a little curious.

"Ahh~ There was a hitch in the car scene, but no one was injured," Kyoko waved it off good-naturedly, but became worried, "Oh! No! Moko-san, did she say I was unprofessional during yesterday's shoot?"

"No, it wasn't that. You came back and dogeza-d to everyone like you would, and you got into character right away and all that, but she just got a sense, is all..."

Kyoko felt relieved. She tried to smile, "I guess I was just rattled by the incident..." Kyoko tried hard not to picture her senpai's shell-shocked face... The memory itself made her unable to talk further on the subject, "How is that period drama going, Moko-san?"

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Once that was done, Tsuruga Ren was more than ready to meet Mogami-san at their designated costume station in the sub-basement. He sat anxiously. It felt unsettling for someone so self-assured to have trouble sitting still, but there he was, fidgeting; his leg jiggling like a deprived nicotine addict. This did not go unnoticed by Miss Jelly Woods.

"Oh, hun, why don't you hop out and take a smoke break while you wait for your sister?" Jelly smiled an auntie smile that gave Ren just a little bit of the ease he'd been missing. Finding composure, Ren was ready to decline the offer when Jelly added, "you're legs're just about ready to do the jitterbug."

Ren sighed, donning the face of Cain Heel and exiting the chic trailer before any more helpful hints could be made at his expense. Did _everyone_ know how he felt about this girl now? Seriously!

It was bad enough having his manager taunting him at every turn... But that, he'd gotten used to. Though he didn't like interference, it was also somehow pleasant. More than adapting to this light forms of goading, he was actually beginning to enjoy it. These provocations proved to be more troubling than they had originally appeared. Now, poor Ren was left to ponder whether or not _Kaichou_'s comment the moment he'd realized Ren's feelings were true. Was Ren a masochist? Was he truly a glutton for punishment? He'd always thought he'd just deserved it...

That was a funny thought: was there ever a time when _Tsuruga Ren _felt he didn't deserve the punishments he'd received?

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It was night again, and Kyoko found herself once more wandering the streets as Setsuka Heel.

After that awful night in NG-Hell, Kyoko had tucked her senpai into bed and decided to go for a walk... It had surprised her when she had turned to leave and found her brother gripping her fingers in his, but then it would've been more surprising if he hadn't. Cain is so protective of Setsuka... And Setsuka of Cain... But that night, Kyoko knew that if she didn't take a walk, she'd be at a loss, and that would jeopardize her Setsuka and thus, her senpai's Cain. So she smiled gently at Cain Heel, her character's most beloved person. She tip-toed high enough to catch his cheek as he leaned in to reprimand her, and that was all it took for him to leave her be. It was on those streets that she met with the woman that would give her the illegal substances now cradled in Setsuka's hands.

On that first night, Kyoko had figured that due to the shallow character description provided, the only way to further deepen her character was to observe how others reacted to her. Yesterday had worked all right, but Kyoko knew she had leapt out of character at the fearful threat of cigarettes. Now, Kyoko slipped into Setsuka's thin membrane and transformed. Unlike Natsu, unlike Mio, or Choko, Angel B, or even Bo. Or maybe most like Bo, actually... All Kyoko's other characters walked with grace. They had lightness and fluidity. Unlike Natsu and Mio, while she currently loved playing Setsuka nearly as much as Kuon, Kyoko was still predominantly conscious. With Natsu and Mio, she'd be left in her subconscious to watch her character's rampage.

Kyoko watched the pedestrians watching her. As she walked into the nearby conbini, she felt eyes on her almost immediately, and felt their various responses. Some gave her a lusty eye, some superior, some inferior. As she purchased an overly cute pink _Zippo _lighter, the cashier just gave her a look of pure intrigue. She liked that one best. So she could assume that she was a person to be desired, someone who didn't fit into mainstream society, someone who looked genuinely confident and generally bad-ass, and somewhat enigmatic.

That gave her so many ways to play Setsuka... It gave her so many options for everything. It was exasperating. How would Setsuka _really _soothe her brother back there? He had accepted her kiss, but Kyoko wasn't satisfied... Of course! Because Setsuka wouldn't've left her brother in the first place! And, really, leaving the bath with used pants on? A cop-out! If she were _really_ into her character, like with Natsu and Mio, she could've done it! As far as how she'd handled that single-bed fiasco before they'd gotten the right room... Well, that couldn't be helped! She didn't have any glimmer of Setsuka yet!

Her furious self-deprecating led her into an alley she hadn't realized she'd walked into... It wasn't particularly sketchy... But it was enough to know she'd be left in peace. It was there that Kyoko found a ledge to hop onto, and perch herself atop. She looked all around and saw nothing but brick. She sifted through her leather pockets to find which one she had stuffed the cigarettes into in such a hurry. She smoothed the wrinkles in the soft pack and counted how many the girl had given her. There were eleven. She remembered the man she was with saying there were twenty to a pack. Deftly, she lifted on out of the pack, and she put the filtered side to her lips as she'd seen so many people do, including Cain Heel. Kyoko held it between her lips like a straw before readjusting her jaw to hold the other end to the flame. While she used both hands to snap the lighter shut, she breathed in through her nose, clogging her senses with burning smoke and making her gag. She held the thing away from her mouth and glared at it. Oh, these things were tricky... So, no breathing through the nose when a cigarette is close-by... Tentatively, she held it between her fingers in an Audrey Hepburn style... But that felt awkward without the holder thing she used... So she settled into the standard hold between the midsections of her forefinger and middle finger. She inhaled lightly, and immediately exhaled out of fright... The taste was less awful than she expected, but nothing very pleasant... The smell reminded her of incense, which was cool, but not exactly the strong scent that she had imagined... Again, she tried inhaling, pulling a Humphrey Bogart expression out of amusement. Somehow that helped, and she was able to breathe it in without coughing... But boy, did it scrape down her throat. It felt like swallowing a cloud of splinters. She could feel every little alveoli dying. She exhaled and a satisfyingly thick cloud of gray swam out of her mouth. She finished the rest of her cigarette fairly easily, but by the end of it was feeling rather nauseated. Kyoko decided that she, herself would never have the chops to be a smoker, but as for the character of Setsuka... She still couldn't know for sure. Somehow, the pack of white cigarettes suited her. The image that girl had conjured of a dirty stoop backstage to a big Broadway production in New York came to mind. Since Setsuka was from England, why couldn't she smoke wherever she liked with abandon? Mind made up, Kyoko lightly hopped off of her perch and made her way back to her brother.

She hadn't expected he'd be waiting up for her when she walked in.

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At that moment, Tsuruga Ren was cursing up a storm, wondering why he hadn't followed her out... The thought had occurred to him three minutes too late. He'd rushed out after her, but walking up and down the block tread no hints of her whereabouts. He'd gone back up to the room and began brooding. Seriously, he just might truly be a masochist.

Ren sat there, cursing himself, knowingly allowing _Kaichou_'s planted seed to sprout. The suggestive words echoed in his head, causing trouble, the seed feeding off of his spiraling thoughts and repeated phrases.

_"Wouldn't be herself once she becomes Setsuka."_

Could Mogami-san be getting into trouble right now? His Setsuka is already different from his imagination. His Setsuka wouldn't ever leave her brother's side. What was Mogami-san's Setsuka doing right now? Was she with someone? Was she being... bad?

Just before the sprout began flowering Ren shot to the closet and threw on his coat. But before he could reach for the doorknob, it slowly began to turn.

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Setsuka tried to open the door as quietly as possible, like a kid who went out past curfew. All in vain. In slow horror, she took in the large shadow looming over her.

"Nii-san?" Setsuka pouted, "You're still awake? And here I was, trying to be as quiet as possible!"

Ren's eyes bugged for a moment before he settled into the persona of Cain, "Hm."

Kyoko prayed her racing heart would not betray her forcibly calm demeanor. She prayed he wouldn't catch the way she tried to hide her cigarette breath... Even if her brother is a chain smoker, Setsuka (in Japan) had never smoked before, and so she probably wasn't, and for someone with such a huge Cain-obsession, the only reason Kyoko could deem appropriate would be Cain's disapproval... And Oh, Jesus, Buddha, Allah, please spare the poor girl the thought of what her dear senpai's reaction might be! And lo, she noticed her brother was wearing his coat, and attention could be averted momentarily, "Why are you putting your coat on? Are you going out? Shall I join you?"

"I was cold," Cain answered, shrugging off his coat in resentment, "Because _someone_ left me alone."

Setsuka smiled warmly, "I didn't mean to! I thought you'd be asleep already!"

"I couldn't sleep because you left me alone," Cain answered begrudgingly before dropping his coat to the floor and stalking toward the bed.

Setsuka cocked her head to the side, thinking if she could say her thoughts aloud... Yeah, why not, "this onii-san sure likes acting like a toddler," she cooed as she hung his coat and began taking off her outer wear, thanking the Heaven's that Cain had decided to sulk, rather than advance.

"Where did you go?"

"Just to the conbini."

"Which one?"

"The one up the block," Kyoko's heart began beating faster... Had she been caught? If she still had a chance, she'd better bee-line for the bathroom and wash up.

"I didn't see you in there when I went."

"You followed me?" Oh _God_, oh no...

"I just went to look for you, but you weren't at the conbini or anywhere else on the block so I decided to wait here," Oh, here come the puppy eyes... Resist, Kyoko, don't look!

"Well, they didn't have any good, up-to-date fashion magazines at that conbini so I went around the corner to find a Kinokuniya or something... But the next conbini actually had a good selection," Setsuka was acting calm, cool, and collected... And it was getting on Ren's nerves... He's here worrying to death about the girl, and she's all, _"If you'd just turned the corner before freaking out, you could've saved yourself the trouble!"_ I mean, she didn't say that, but that's what it felt like... It ticked him off.

So he grabbed her.

It honestly wasn't intentional, but the timing and force with which this masochist pulled his poor kohai's arm had knocked her off balance. This had consequently placed the sweet little minx right into his lap, _shoujo_ bubble toners and all.

Naturally, Kyoko froze, one hand gripping his shirt out of instinctual fright upon falling backward. Now she sat, her legs knocking together, feet dangling while she perched on such long legs.

Consequently, Ren was also statuesque. His mind had to restart and process what had led to their current predicament... Damn, if he'd meant for something like this, he could've gone all 'Emperor of the Night.' Sadly, as the sprite-like object of his affection sat, all he could feel was her shoulders pressed, slightly trembling against his arm, her leg muscled contracting against his own, and her firm grip around his cotton shirt collar. As he felt the President's plant blooming, Ren knew he didn't deserve the punishment he was receiving right now.

The plaguing began.

_"What do you do when you're alone together?"_

_"Is she the spoiled type?" _

_"Does she sit on your lap?"_

Ren's mind was reeling. Why wasn't she getting up? Why wasn't she saying anything? How the _fuck_ was he going to talk his way out of this one?

Little did her know, Kyoko's thoughts ran across the exact same lines.

_"Have you talked about your childhood? Do you even have a shared history?"_

Bingo! Suddenly Ren knew what to do. Cain's arms encircled the young woman lovingly, with strange familiarity. For a moment, Kyoko relaxed. She couldn't understand it. She was spellbound, slowly letting her shocked-wide eyes droop and drift upon the face of this wonderful man. Their eyes locked, and he wore an expression so nostalgic his next words didn't feel out of place at all.

"Remember when you'd get nightmares and I'd have to rock you back to sleep just like this?" Yes, this was probably a fantasy Kuon had already indulged in, but why not?

Kyoko smiled softly. She let her hand unclench and slide around his neck, the other arm reaching up to meet it as she turned her torso. She rest her cheek against his shoulder and said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

And it was a more perfect moment than either of them could ever allow themselves to ask for...

That is, until Ren tried to inhale this made-up nostalgia and was met with a nose-full of charcoal filtered smoke.

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Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait... I kept trying to make it longer, but I didn't want to force it... I actually kind of wanted to keep going, but felt I'd rather update!

Let me know what you think... I think Setsuka is going to taking over soon. And then, of course, so will Cain, and so things are going to get pretty heated up! Be excited!


	4. 4: Just Playing

Disclaimer: Right, I own Skip Beat. Actually, I'm Takarada and these are just synopses from my favorite otome games :)

Title: Give Me A Good Reason

Summary: Ren's giving himself good reasons to give up on Kyoko, Kuon's giving him good reasons not to, and Kyoko's giving him whiplash. All he can do is become Cain Heel. Pre-Act 168

Chapter: Four: Just Playing

Key: _"Quoted italics will mean it's in English. I know, retardedly backwards, but SB is Japanese!" _

_ Regular italics are just written for emphasis on certain words. That's just how I's does my English._

Underlined means written text. 

**Bold means scripted lines.**

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The smoke traveled to his brain, veiling it in a foggy cloud of tobacco infused confusion... Was it his own smell? Cain smoked Dunhill reds... He knew the after-scent was usually similar to the smell of a forgotten attic, while what he smelled now was more... Like incense?

What was with the difference?

Kyoko's head shifted a bit on his shoulder, and she let out a giggle unfamiliar to Ren's ears... Because this wasn't Kyoko... This was Setsuka. That sultry laugh and this sultry smell... She was to blame. Ren dove his nose into the tangles of his _sister's_ hair, the smell palpable now. In quick cognizance, Kyoko tried to escape, but his grip tightened. He inhaled, loud this time, like a vacuum as frightening as to children and small puppies. Kyoko fidgeted, and laughed fearfully, frantically thinking of ways she may be able to sate this madman before it was too late... Oh no, his arms caged her in place, hands moving every which way in pursuit of the evidence, shifting too fast for her to escape. They traced her pant pockets, felt around the ribcage of her corset, went so far as to verify whether or not she could hide them in any of the complicated accessories on her legs. Nothing there. Kyoko's eyes widened as Ren's bore into her. His eyes, the green in them growing darker by the second, made Kyoko feel guiltier than when she'd run away from the Fuwa Ryokan. When those ferociously forest green eyes squinted, she couldn't help letting out a small squeak, which grew in volume as he flung her to his side, letting her fall unharmed onto the middle of his bed as he raced to the closet.

A strong, "NNNO_OOOooooo~"_ was heard, trailing off with futility as Cain Heel stood to his full length, the pack of instant death held hatefully in his left hand. He glared at the label typed in a fashionable black font. A moment of tension-filled silence sulked through the room, taking their moment of cuteness away once they made eye contact. Ren took this moment to think about how he should proceed. The man inside him knew this was going to be a hypocritical argument... But one! She wasn't old enough, and two! Smoking is bad! ... _Bad_, Kyoko!

But he knew this wasn't Kyoko. He also knew he could not proceed as Tsuruga Ren. He clenched his jaw as he spit out the name, "Setsu-KA!"

She jumped, shaking, unclear of what to do... Unclear on how she felt about this...

Kyoko had been so pumped when she thought she'd be getting a lecture about finances back at _Jeanne d'Arc_, but now... For an instant, a flash of her mother invaded her. A quick barrage of Saena flew through Kyoko's heart. The remnants of it's painful path left on her facial expression made Ren's step forward much more demure than he'd had in mind.

"Setsuka, you can't smoke..." Ren thought of a way to jog her back into Setsuka, "It's bad for you."

"But you smoke all the time!"

"I'm of age."

Setsuka let out a snort, "you didn't start when you were of age." _Huh,_ these improvised facts came so naturally.

"Well, you were like, 10. So... What do you know..." Improvisation is great.

"Mmm~ More like 12-" Especially between two such competitive persons.

"Losing the point here, Setsuka. You can't smoke." Oh, that gleam came back into Kyoko's eyes... Ren understood that this was the big brother scolding she was looking for.

"Why not?"

And Ren knew what he needed to do... He knew that the scars from her mother would always feel fresh, and he knew exactly why, "Setsu, don't make me-"

"Make you what?" He hadn't anticipated the harsh spit in her words... It was like the phrase, _'don't make me,'_ turned their sweet banter sour.

Ren took a step back. Setsuka had jumped up, standing at full length on the bed to get some sort of height advantage. And he couldn't say what he wanted to anymore. Something jolted him, something woke him up. "Don't make me into the bad guy, here."

_'Get yourself together...'_

"I'm not, you're doing that all on your own."

"Oh, I'm the bad guy? I'm bad for wanting to _protect_ your _lungs?_"

"It's hypocritical!"

Well, she got him there... But Ren wasn't going to lose this one. He was beginning to forget this was a fake argument.

"It is!" Kyoko hopped around in childish vexation. "See, you smoke! You make me worry about it. About your health, your terrible eating habits, your teeth!"

"My tee-"

"Why do I have to act like the adult around here, but you still get to lecture me?" And it got quiet. Ren caught the fire in her eyes. And it fizzled all his resolve... He remembered what was supposed to happen here. He was not supposed to invest himself...

"Listen, Ky-"

"No! _You_ listen to _me_, okay?" Kyoko balled her fists in desperation, holding them near her face in defense... Ren felt pitiful. He felt helpless when faced with such a pleading look.

"I'm trying to _find_ myself, here. I can't... I'm not... Aside from _you_ I don't know who I am! Okay? So... So sue me if I've gotta break a couple rules to do it. Since we got here... I realized how much... _Everything_ revolves around you. It's like the only thing that defines me right now... Is being Cain Heel's little sister, Setsuka..."

Is it weird that all Ren wanted to do right then was hold her? Just sweep her off the bed and cradle her in his arms? "I'm only fighting with you right now because I care about you. I don't want you to do something so damaging to your body... You're my world, Setsuka. The only thing that defines me is being Cain Heel, Setsuka's big brother."

Now, is it weird that all Kyoko wanted to do right then was hold him? Just jump off the bed, right into his arms? Yes, it was!

... But, not as Setsuka, right? Yeah, Setsuka's presence was strong, and it flung her off the bed and right into her _big brother's_ chest. He was stunted, but only for a moment. He gathered her up, evened his breathing, and whispered to her, "I love you, Setsuka."

And Kyoko felt a chasm erupt within her heart. She began to cry. Quietly, she clung to him and let her tears stain the shoulder of his shirt. Slowly, Cain kneeled down onto the bed, holding her up with one arm, and rearranging pillows with the other. And before he knew it, she was asleep.

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Something went wrong last night. Up until that fight broke out, things were all right, but... _No_... Even beforehand... Things had been dangerous from the get-go, from the minute Chief and Jelly put her in that harpie attire... But he'd told himself he wouldn't break character... He wouldn't _let _himself _be_ himself... But in the middle of that argument, he felt Setsuka and Cain strip away, and he was left there telling Mogami Kyoko _everything _as Tsuruga Ren.

And he didn't know what it was, but they both played into it... And that made it _dangerous._

At the end, he'd gathered himself enough to peacefully enter the guise of Cain Heel (_sure he did_), but still... He was amazed Cain could take it this far (_right, Cain..._). I mean, wasn't Ren almost _always_ still conscious? When he needs to snap out of character, he can do so easily, whereas Kyoko needs a snap from a movie marker. How could he let Cain do this? (_Really? Blaming your character, Ren?_)

Ren battled, trying to blame Cain Heel for this current predicament... With futility. It didn't really matter now, because the situation was what it was, and there was no way out of it. Setsuka had fallen asleep hugging him, and Cain had fallen asleep hugging her. You can imagine how hard it was for the poor guy to wake up and find himself entangled with the angelic being beside him. The girl he'd been suppressing his feelings from for nearly a year now. He knew Cain's character had many similar traits to Kuon. Today he would find out just how dangerously similar they were, once the scripts came in... It was exciting to think the scripts would be written by the President himself, but... At present, it was more terrifying than anything else. Ren sighed. After a quick shower he decided to prepare breakfast for the sleeping beauty currently spooning his head pillow between her legs like a toddler. Looking in the fridge, Ren decided he'd better order room service. But changed his mind when he thought the bell-hops might wake her. Ren shrugged on Cain's coat and boots and went down to look for something Kyoko would like to eat.

He walked aimlessly, head wrapped in sweet reveries as he walked past cafe after cafe. Maybe Kyoko would like a French breakfast? At the thought of such a thorough-bred Japanese girl sitting in some underground _Beat_ cafe- sipping some black coffee, her head topped with a black beret- was an entertaining picture. Or maybe an English breakfast of tea and crumpets? Ren chuckled at the image of Kyoko holding a white Lady parasol and a tiny white poodle... Unknowingly similar to her Karuizawa fantasies.

He walked past the French patisserie with a sudden appetite. Paying no heed to the startled couples seated around the cafe, Ren sauntered right up to the displayed pastries protected behind a thick glass plate. He heard a strange squeak, pulling him away from another 'Cutie Honey' fantasy featuring maid outfits.

"W-w-w-wuh... Ahem... Welcome. How may I help you?"

Ren turned to find a small part-timer trying her hardest not to turn blue in the face. For a second, Ren was puzzled. Then he remembered that he was Cain. He closed his eyes, let out a sigh. Without a word, Ren wordlessly ordered an assorted collection of sweets, and asked for two cafe au laits, all with simple swipes with his pointer finger along the display glass. He was able to stay in character while waiting for his order to be bagged and paid, but once he was back outside, the whiff of the pastries and coffee in his hands, Ren fell back into his jolly stupor.

Meanwhile, Kyoko had woken up to the sound of a doorbell ringing. And then knocking... And then knocking. "Ah!" Kyoko quickly hopped up and ran to open the door.

A startled bell-hop stood with a heavy manila envelope in hand, "Ah, Miss... _Heel?_ This came from... Your boss? It was marked urgent and confidential, so I thought I'd better...? I'm sorry if I'd disturbed...?"

"Aaaah..." Kyoko hushed the rambling boy... Something about the way his voice went up at the end of every sentence was extremely irritating. She was probably just being cranky, "No, it's fine. I'm sorry for the trouble," and gave him a perplexingly warm smile, in contrast with her abrasive appearance.

Kyoko took the folder gracefully, and shut the door with a polite good-bye to the no-doubt love-struck young man. Kyoko paced with the envelope... It was a package for her, right? From the boss? So, it wouldn't be bad if she opened it, right? Maybe she should wait for her senpai... That's right, where was he? Kyoko looked toward her senpai's bed... To find no one.

"Tsuruga-san..?" No answer... Maybe in the bathroom? Oh, maybe she should be calling out to Cain Heel, "Nii-san?" Nope...

Her senpai was nowhere in sight. And what's more, it seemed she'd fallen asleep in yesterday's clothes... Yesterday... "A-wah!" Kyoko's eyes flew open at the restoration of last night's memories. She'd been caught smoking... By Tsuruga Ren! And not only that, he'd... He'd _fondled_ her! Of course, that wasn't his intention... And it wasn't even Tsuruga Ren, but Cain Heel... It was a character, but... All the places he'd touched her felt like they were on fire! Kyoko turned as dark as a plum and rushed into the bathroom before she could think of anything else, tossing the envelope onto the bed. She didn't know where Tsuruga-san had gone, but for the time being, she was fine with him being away from her! As she bathed, the traces of where his hands had been _lingered_, and made her scrub extra hard... "_Nehhhh_, _Kyooooo-_ko... What are you thinking about...?_ HAH?_ Impure!"

Once she finally got out of the bath, Kyoko walked around in Setsuka's ero-kawa underwear. Sleeping in leather was absolutely _not_ good for the body, and trying to slip back into it with wet skin was absolutely _not _good for the body... Especially when she'd rubbed herself raw in a steaming hot bath. She looked into the fridge, but found herself not in the mood to eat... After poking around in the closet, she could already feel the material irritating her skin, so she opted for her current state of undress. Today was a free-play day for the Cain siblings. The day couldn't start without _nii-san_. So while she waited, the good manager-sister that she was, she cleaned. Kyoko emptied the bath- and scrubbed it until it sparkled- which took about five minutes. She started the washing machine, only putting in their attire from yesterday. She made the beds, holding back the blush creeping up when she realized she'd woken up in _his_ bed, not her own... Okay, no dishes... Nothing left to do... Obviously, she had no choice but to open the mysterious package!

_"As requested, I've written a Cain and Setsuka Heel scene. So, it seems short. So sorry. I wrote it rather quick, but depending on your interpretation, should span the course of your weekend off your respective scheduled workloads. I leave that up to you, as this is not a masterpiece. It is, however, an experimental piece of work that I am rather proud of and so should not leave your hotel room. This dialogue is to be memorized and performed over the span of two days, how that will happen is completely up to the two of you. The performance itself, however, may take place outside of your hotel. By withholding any form of stage direction, I give the actors full liberty on how this act will play out. Mogami-kun, Ren, I hope you two will have fun, but prove to be fully committed to the task of developing your roles to the utmost. _

_As always,_

_Takarada Lory"_

Underneath the hand-written note, were two rather thick copies. There was no way of gauging how long this would take, but it was a good thing it was only 8:00am.

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By 8:15, Kyoko had finished the script, a twinkle in her eyes. By 8:50, she'd had the entire thing memorized. By 9:00 Setsuka was nearly a fully realized character and Kyoko was balancing a cigarette between her lips, ashing it outside of the opened window she was leaning out of, a pair of Panasonic hipster-headphones around her neck and an iPod nano on the table. All forms of bashfulness had flown out the window upon her next exhale, as she sat with her legs wrapped around the back of her chair, tilting it forward with a daring amount of weight pressing upon the lower glass panel. The fact that she was lounging in a black lace camisole and matching underwear didn't even phase her now. Setsuka only had one thing on her mind at the moment.

"Nii-san... I'm not gonna quit smoking. I like it, it's relaxing and gives me something to do while I'm idle... So, I won't quit until you do," Setsuka spoke assertively into the embers of her cigarette. With a satisfied smile, she returned the filter to her lips, inhaled and began practicing 'o's... She was terrible at it. Setsuka re-phrased her statement in English, her tongue more slack against her teeth, lips a bit pursed. Her tone reminiscent of a Pride and Prejudice character, but with a slightly aggressive modern Yorkshire dialect, _"Ah won' quit, brother! Ah like it, it's relaxin' an' gives me somethin' too doo when A'm Idle... So, no, ah won' quit entil you doo!" _

... Okay, a bit forced... But it was impressive enough that she was able to shake her strong Japanese accent! Sure, she sounded a bit medieval right now, but just another hour of practice, and it would be calm, cool, and collected. No trace of whining to be found.

_"Bruh-thah, ah-skin me tuh qui' is ridiculous. An you knuh it. So, ah won't be qui''in' intil you' 'ad off wiff the stuff, too,"_ Now her voice was breathier, a soft London lilt to it... She liked it. Okay, accent down, now all she needed to fully become Setsuka was to meet her true Cain-_nii-san._

She'd had two cigarettes total now. And two, one right after another. She was lucky the charcoal filters or whatever it was that kept the smoke so smooth was there. She could tell her throat would've been dead by now if it weren't for the almost liquid-like quality of the things... They sure made her light-headed, though.

Just as she tossed the crushed end out of the window, the door clicked open. She turned her head in time to see her brother enter with a white paper bag held by his teeth, their room key in one hand and coffee in the other.

_"Ahh... You was off to the cafe, all this time?"_ Setsuka high-legged it over the back of her chair in order to spin around and talk to him.

Of course, Ren's mouth fell open at the double-shock of Kyoko with a British accent and Kyoko in her underwear... She sat like a model, long and statuesquely nonchalant like it was the most natural thing in the world. The bag of pastries thumped to the floor, but Ren had enough sense to cover quickly enough. As he stooped to retrieve the pastries, he mumbled in a matching accent, _"I always tell, you'll catch cold like that."_

Setsu grinned a coquettish grin, _"And I always tell you," _with a pat to her chest,_ "I won't quit easy!" _She smiles, giving the 'V' sign in model japanese girl fashion, and repeating in Japanese, "won't quit~!"

Ren focused his entire brain on pulling out the slightly battered pastries, putting them on plates in trademarked lack-luster Cain fashion, and not looking at Kyoko. Not looking at Kyoko. _Noooooot _looking at...

"Aaaah... Nii-san..._ You didn't put in no sugar," _a sigh of endurance, Ren fearfully glanced past his right shoulder, once again forced to contain himself inside the Cain shell enough not to jump at her sudden closeness. She stood beside him, leaning her lower back against the edge of the kitchen counter, wiping the coffee from her parting lips with the backs of her fingers. He cursed his height for giving him the beautiful view down her camisole, _"cafe au lait like this just tastes like breast milk."_

Thank God she'd said that. The freakishness of her statement allowed Ren ample time to _really _collect himself, and find safety... Ah, open window, ashtray, lighter... _"Whatever it is you just said... Kind of gross. And there's sugar packets in the drawer there,"_ without so much as a glance, Cain stomped to the chair previously occupied by Setsu, pulled out a Dunhill and lit furiously.

"Cain-nii-san... _I didn't mean to sound ungrateful..._ Thank you very much..._ For the coffee,_" Setsuka smiled at his back, slowly sauntering over to the table to eat with her brother, setting his coffee next to the script, which caught his attention.

"Ahh... Did The Boss send this?" Cain put his fingers on the note to get a better view of it, _"Hm... Did you already learn your part, Setsu?"_ Setsuka responded with the right corner of her mouth curling up into an arrogant smirk, and drank more coffee.

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Kyoko couldn't help sulking a bit. She thought her time was impressive, yet it took her senpai only half the time she needed to completely grasp the role. It wasn't really fair.

_"I been in the biz 'least four years longer, so quit pouting," _Ren huffed, twirling a strand of her pink highlights while he threw back his coffee. Everything was haphazard with Cain.

Kyoko knew the play would have to come about naturally at some point today, so for now, they both limboed in pseudo-consciousness, acting like their characters, but feeling their own feelings. A strange state to explain, but then again, a state any normal person is thrown into nearly every day; role of mother, brother, father, sister, teacher, student, leader, follower, employer, prophet, oracle, disciple, etc., etc., and so forth.

_"Will you quit if I spoil you more, you brat?"_ Cain brushed her bangs from her face, Setsuka pouting in mock indignation.

_"You'll mess up my hair!"_ Setsuka spread her fingers through her fringe and shook the strands out into elegant disarray. Cain laughed, exasperated, and went back to his cigarette. Setsuka huffed, turning to her window, a _"shit"_ almost slipping out as she realized she'd missed her chance to argue about cigarettes. Cain had already assumed he'd won that argument last night, so now she'd just have to hide it. With a sigh, Setsuka rolled her eyes slightly to the right, noticing the pane in between the two of them held his reflection. And that his eyes were on her... He watched his eyes seem to move from her hair... Then, she felt his eyes on her neck, jaw line, her lips, her nose, her cheekbones-

Her eyes darted away from his reflection before he'd caught sight of where she'd been looking, lest he learn she'd been watching him while he watched her... But not her as Kyoko, her as Setsuka, and by him... She thinks she means him as Cain, but then, it could be him as Ren, himself watching her as Setsuka while she, Kyoko, herself watched Ren watch her as...? Well... Yeah, that'd be all types of awkward mess.

Kyoko sighed again. Suddenly she felt restless, almost irritated by their idleness, "Nii-san," she said to their beautiful morning cityscape, _"could we go to Shitamachi today?"_

"Shitamachi?" Cain repeated, uninterested.

_"I heard Tokyo kids from Shitamachi are the coolest,"_ Setsuka explained this with distaste, like it was time to pick a fight,_ "of course, I heard they only got that way to arm themselves against the rapid modernization of Yamanote."_

"Yet, you wanna go there..."

_"_Yeah, so what? Anyway, _nii-san_, why are you talking in Japanese again? You keep doing that even though Boss said nobody's supposed to know you're _a half!"_ Setsuka shot off her seat and stalked to the closet, throwing on the most comfortable thing she could find... Oh, a black dress? She threw it on. _Aaah_, nothing soothes the skin like satin...

_"Hope you're not done dressing, cuz you still look like you're in your underwear,"_ Ren sighed now, truly exhausted by the little nymph..

Setsuka clucked her teeth, _"I know that... I'm not chillin in my panties for nothing, you know... My skin's all raw, in case you haven't noticed."_

In his defense, the man was trying his hardest _not_ to notice, _"It'll be chilly today."_

Setsuka smiled a tiny smile to herself, and shuffled through her things again... But one can only shuffle through five outfits worth of clothes so many times before giving up. In a stroke of brilliance, she decided to look through her brother's items. Yes! She found a flannel perfect for her ensemble. Her satin slip stopped just above mid-thigh, her brother's shirt, as one might imagine, ran down to her knees... Though that may matter very little, as the thing was meticulously designed to look chicly ripped (or burned) to shreds. She rolled the sleeves eight times to reach her elbows. She decided to throw on fishnets to accompany her new holey red plaid flannel. For some reason, Kyoko knew that something else was needed for the look to be complete. Setsuka's fashion sense was super strong. With a sigh, she buttoned the two middle buttons and turned to her brother for approval.

He huffed, tossing his cigarette-butt out the window, closing it, and getting up to join her, "What's wrong?"

Setsuka pouted, using Japanese because she thought it might sound cuter, "I wish I had a bowler hat."

Cain smiled like the adorable rapscallion he's turned out to be. Then, with crazy-eyes moaned, _"Shooooop-PING!"_ He accentuated the 'ping' with a thumbs-up, making Setsuka feel like she'd lost, and Kyoko like she'd somehow lost twice to this man-child maniac. As Cain walked past her, out the door, Kyoko secretly grilled him, burning holes into the back of his head and vowing not to let him win a third time. In fact, she'd one-up him. She'd find a way to _make_ him start their dialogue today, just as _he'd_ done to poor Momose-san on the Dark Moon set once... And, come to think of it, he'd done it to her a long, long time ago when she was trying to put that bratty Ruriko-princess in her place. _Oooh_ just _thinking_ about how _fooled_ she was by him just made her-

Cain turned around with a Ren-like smile, "not coming?"

Kyoko smiled in surrender. It just reminded her why she began to follow acting to begin with, and how far she'd come since then... "Hand." She answered, extending hers.

Ren recognized that Cutie Honey smile, throwing him mentally off-balance, almost hesitating to take her hand, but finding his footing once she intertwined their fingers.

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Their first stop was before they even got on the train. Cain spotted a hat he knew would fit Setsuka's tastes perfectly for the evening, and dragged her in to try it on.

And while they were at it, he forced her to model ten more outfits, all fitting a very New York City 90's grunge-chic niche and asking them to hold it at the desk until they came back later that evening.

Next, Setsuka forced them to pick up picnic foods at the first cute cafe they spotted once they got off the train into Shitamachi. Both Ren and Kyoko were enjoying the time together, both thinking the other to be focused on their character when the opposite couldn't be more true.

Now, Ren knew Kyoko was scheming about how to one-up him with the script all afternoon. For one thing, observing the inner turmoil objectively was utterly adorable. For another, he knew once they got into it, Setsuka would take over, and Kyoko would never be in there until someone called cut.

He thought that was what he wanted, but something more terrifying began to take shape. He'd begun to feel it during Dark Moon, but they didn't share enough stage time to tread any uncharted waters. An actor's greatest pleasure, even before a good part in a good production has got to be mixing with well seasoned actors to spice up the dish. The President had mentioned it first; Kyoko was a rare breed of actor, the same as Ren himself... Though Ren had been bullied into suppressing it during his many scandals in L.A., after which he'd reverted to using Stella Adler's mix on method, allowing him to become the character only in the moment. Around Kyoko's Mio he felt his Katsuki grow thicker, and thicker. Even play-acting as Cain and Setsu at Jean D'Arc proved to be nearly... Lethal. If Cain and Setsuka were to truly awaken, the two might fall so deep into darkness the consequences would be irreversible...

And then Ren's thoughts got darker... He thought in a way he hadn't allowed himself to think in over four years. He thought that maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing. He thought that if he did in fact do something of real consequence while Cain had taken control, well, wouldn't he then be getting just what he deserved? Ren closed his eyes and thought to himself, maybe he'd just kill someone else, and finally get the incarceration sentence he deserved, _"Huh, Rick?"_

Why not go all out? After all, who can call it acting when there's nobody left to watch? Method, Meisner, _Masochism_. He saw some connections here.

"...bout, nii-san...? Nii-san...?" For a second, Setsuka faded away and Kyoko stood there, grabbing his hand as worriedly as she had during his stunt accident on Dark Moon. For a moment, Ren's eyes betrayed a pang of guilt. But it was almost a ghost of a look... A look any normal person might miss, had they not possessed abilities of such a supernatural level as his Cutie Honey. She wondered what, _"huh, Rick_," meant, but his expression told her she should hold her tongue.

_"... You said you felt cold? Let's get out of here, then," _Cain grabbed her hand with sloth-like enthusiasm, taking four full seconds to wind his fingers through hers, secrelty using that time to fully collect himself. He assessed their surroundings, and realized that through his daydreams they'd made it through lunch and were now on a path... Were they already in Ueno park?

"We're going home?" Kyoko asked, taken aback.

_**"**__Yeah,__** isn't that what you wanted?"**_Kyoko's eyes glinted... That was the first line... But the meaning was totally different... When she'd read it, she heard melo-drama... But the way Tsuruga-san's Cain said it... It came out so light, as if he were asking for her order at a restaurant. Did that mean she could trap him?

_**"I did... But then why did you take me here in the first place?"**_ Kyoko felt Setsuka's anger rising at the real meaning of the words.

_**"... What are you talking about?"**_ Ren turned, the sound of Kyoko's voice had alerted him that something was not right... And the look on her face... Such heartache... A face he remembered her wearing frequently when they'd met as Kyoko-chan and Corn... It was her lonely face. It was a face he hadn't seen since... Why was he seeing it now?

_**"Why did you bring me here?"**_ Her English... Instead of throwing Ren back into reality, it turned Ren back into Kuon. The Kuon who knew this side of Kyoko-chan, the Kuon who left her in Kyoto, and went back to America and grew into a soulless trouble-maker... A murderer... Why was she looking at him like that?

_**"Don't look at me like that. Let's go," **_Kuon didn't know why Kyoko-chan was so upset... Or why her eyes were shifting like that, but he knew he didn't like it. He turned to walk, trying to pull her along, but she held her ground. He unlaced their fingers so as to grab her by the wrist and force her along, but as soon as he let go, she held her hands together, away from him...

Kyoko-chan was gone... Before him stood this foreign young girl, familiar in appearance only. Her presence, however, crackled with an intensity no normal girl's should. And, somehow, Kuon couldn't handle it. Tsuruga Ren would've tried to smooth the situation over. But Kuon couldn't watch the girl he loved look at him like that. His resilient little Kyoko-chan standing there like an orphan before him. If he spoke, all that would come out would be rage. He thundered toward her, snatching her up and like a prize for a Gladiator, slinging her over his shoulder like a punked out sack of potatoes.

_**"No! Wait...!"**_ This wasn't going according to Kyoko's plans... How the heck did she end up being carried like a brat throwing a tantrum? _**"Stop! Stop!"**_ How was she supposed to say the next lines if... Wait, this could still work... He may have been playing it pretty oblivious before, but now he's definitely got to know that Setsuka is angry. So, maybe, the weirdo brother that he is, he'll keep Setsuka from looking at him... She'd originally envisioned the next few lines being said with his back to her. She'd interpretted Setsuka's longing, and likened it to the feeling she'd had whenever she called out to her mother's cold back... Fearing no reply, _**"Please..."**_

_**"What do you want, then?"**_ Wait... Why did that line come out so light again? She was really starting to feel like a brat!

This was getting confusing... Tsuruga-san's Cain kept contradicting her interpretation, but still, she had to deliver her Setsuka, _**"I want you to look me in the eyes."**_

And with that, Kuon flipped Kyoko-chan back, hugging her by the small of her back. Kyoko's face involuntarily reddened, almost steaming like a baked potato now... He was looking her in the eyes. They were so close, and they were staring into each other's eyes... And she realized, he wasn't treating her like a brat. His light-hearted tone was betrayed by those deep eyes. Eyes filled with earnest. When he spoke she felt sharp pricks in her chest, _**"Why?"**_

Why did her chest hurt so much? It tightened like a heart attack... How would she say her next lines? She didn't have confidence in controlling her tone, _**"because certain things can only be said face to face,"**_ was that really her voice? It was deep, but almost choked... How was he making her talk like this? That deep emotion, there was no way she could've produced that tone with her acting alone!

_**"Why...?"**_ His eyes, searching... Was he really acting?

_**"So... I can make sure you're listening," **_he was making her feel longing... But not just longing...

_**"I'm listening... so say it,"**_ Why were they still talking like this? Kyoko wanted to cry in frustration. She couldn't deliver her lines right because they were still locked, eye to eye... She was supposed to be saying these things to his back, expressing loneliness... To his turned back... Not just loneliness... Longing... Desire. He was making her express desire.

_**"Stop!"**_ With that, Kuon loosened his grip, and she slid down to the ground... So Cain was like this.

As soon as Setsuka asked him to look her in the eyes, he did it. When she tiptoes around things, he gently asks for the meaning. When she says stop, he stops... And he knows what she means exactly... When she said stop, she wanted him to stop forcing eye contact, so he put her down. Now he's looking at her face, but not in her eyes... The _why's_... Such open-ended questions... This attentive Cain, this gentle Cain.

Kyoko expected the same teasing, aloof brother he'd been... Who was this man now? How could she act like the same Princess-like sister...?

And there it was... Tsuruga-san really was a genius.

The way they were acting... His version of earnest obedience showed her a Cain that honestly loved her so much he couldn't refuse her request. Whether he knew what her request would be or not, he would obey... This princess Setsuka... This baka-aniki... It was more like an princess and her butler. A set up like this... Setsuka's longing would be doubled. A brother she couldn't reach because he acted like his only goal was serving her...

By creating this sort of imaginary barrier, a safety line was drawn...

He made their roles untouchable.

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Author's Note: I know I wrote this, but things are moving along a lot quicker than I expected... Ironically, I update rather slowly... Please stay tuned! Hope things are coherent... To explain, there are 3 characters for Ren in this story. There is Tsuruga Ren, then Cain, then Kuon. Ren does everything properly. Kuon is his uninhibited self. Cain will only truly come out when they have fully realized their characters. right now, Kyoko thinks she's acting with Ren acting as Cain. In reality, she'd been reunited with Kuon (awwwwwww). As for Kyoko, there's also 3. There's Kyoko... Self-explanatory. Then there's Kyoko-chan, who Kuon feels he is reunited with in this play (again, awwww). Then there's Setsuka, who like Cain, will only truly come out when they have fully realized their characters. But once Kuon gives way to Ren, he'll think Kyoko was acting as Setsuka when all the while she was Kyoko...

This is confusing, I apologize...

Also, how the key for italics, bold, underlined, and quoted italics was easy enough to follow!


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